last weeks in moscow: good eats

i tried to make the most of my last couple of weeks in moscow.  i am going to miss this city, despite what i thought at the beginning.  i am just getting to know it, and now i have to leave it.  the city kind of gets under your skin.  it is intimidating, and big.  roads are big.  buildings are big.  yet there is a kind of order, and a grittiness that makes you feel alive.  there is something brewing there...good or bad, corrupt or pure, something is always brewing in that city.  there are so many nooks and crannies to discover...something new to see and discover around every bend.  and i was just getting to the point where i was comfortable going around the next corner to see what i could see.  not sure when i'll be back, if ever, but it will always hold a special place in my heart.

so, to celebrate my time in this crazy city, i ate.  a lot.  and at a lot of different places.  we went out to trendy restaurants (22.13 in the kuznetsky most area), old-school soviet throwback beer halls (glavpivtorg, also in the kuznetsy most area), trendy and old-school posh tourist places (cafe pushkin, started in 1999, but makes you feel like 1909), and a russian comfort food cooking class.  it was amazing.  i loved it all.  and here's what i have to share:

cooking class!  we did an evening cooking class where we prepared 4 home-style russian dishes.  Russian salad (called Olivier salad here) with small pieces of diced ham, potatoes, carrots, pickles, egg and mixed with a healthy dose of mayonnaise, sour cream, and a dollop of mustard.  then Shi, a traditional broth soup with pickled cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onion and dill.  breaded chicken cutlets with a side of buckwheat and mushrooms.  and for dessert, a kind of pudding/custard with raisins.  it was all mighty tasty, i've got to say, and everything (except the broth soup) had sour cream and/or mayonnaise.  gotta love the russians.

this is the Olivier salad.  this was my favorite dish.

oh yeah, well, this is in a cute boutique, hidden around one of the corners i mentioned earlier.  they sold vintage items, including USA license plates, including this one from my home state of IOWA!!!  the saleslady thought it was amazing when i told her i was from there!  it was selling for $45.  i didn't buy it.

this is the creme brûlée dessert being prepared at our table at cafe pushkin. best desserts in the city, that i've tasted.  amazing.

this is the plaza outside the cafe pushkin.  all decorated for winter.  so pretty.  the russians do love their lights.

this is the flight of homemade vodkas at glavpivtorg.  horseradish, pepper, berry, cedar, and lemon.  cedar tasted like a closet.   horseradish about burned my sinus off.  lemon was amazing.  i had 2 more of the lemon shots.  (oh, and i shared the flight with my friend anita...i didn't do 7 shots on my own fyi...)

this is the 1960's era soviet mass band.  lots of russians danced along with them.  and they handed out songbooks so we could all sing along.  in russian.  we didn't do very well.  but it was really fun.

these are all the waiters singing and clapping along.

dancing!

so i managed to work in some fun activities between working, and packing up the apartment to move south to krasnodar, where i am now.  this is where i will be for the next month while we rehearse all of our dancers.  krasnodar is a nice town.  the most wealthy of the south, and i was told today it was labeled by forbes magazine as the best city in southern russia (if not the whole of russia) in which to do business.  i'll let you know what i think after being here for a month.

i still haven't processed that i have left moscow.  it has become home to me after 10 months, and it was hard to leave.  it's almost like the fun is over, and now the real work begins.  i don't think i'll have a day off until march 18, the day after the paralympic closing ceremony.  wish me luck.